Rob ( Snifters skipper ) and I were having a chat on the phone yesterday and a topic we discussed was the possibility of organising a Bristol Channel Achilles rally later in the year.

If there is enough interest I might be able to convince Portishead Quays marina to charge a nominal mooring fee. I only suggest Portishead because it has a fairly wide tidal gate and is sort of in the middle of the Bristol Channel for yachts coming from either direction.

Of course other suggestions are very welcome ( Cardiff Yacht Club ? )..

Anyway, if you are in the Bristol Channel area and think it is a good idea, post a note on this topic chain and I will take it from there.

Super Snoopy is game, especially if it is somewhere other than Cardiff. Cardiff Bay tends to be the default day sail from Newport (it has many attractions I admit), but it would be good to visit other ports and I would be able to use my English courtesy flag.

Alan

PS Don't forget the BCYA rally is in Cardiff Bay on 9th and 10th July.

I know Phungus very well indeed - I have sailed her a couple of times with Jeff her previous owner. I fitted both the 240ac socket and the 12V lights on the saloon bulkhead .. I always had my doubts about those..

Instead of taking a hard turn to starboard to get to Phungus, keep on going and the first A24 you will see is good old Little Plum,,,

I always felt the daft things were more appropriate for a narrow boat. I have just spoken to Jeff at the club.. and he is in fine fettle. Albeit that he is struggling with the concept of being able to stand up in the saloon ( weird or what !! )

Enjoy Phungus, she is a super little yacht, but being a MK1 version of the A24 do put the bottom washboard in place if you are in any kind of sea. She also has a lovely spirit burning cooker.

Little Plum was second to last in last years Holms race, followed by Phungus. However Snifter won... and we have a cunning plan for this years race. Watch this space....

Glad you saw the urchin that is Little Plum, hopefully we will see you out there soon.

Allegedly all sea going vessels are owned by a chap called 'Neptune'. There is a whole wonderful procedure for changing a vessels name.. Look it up on the inter web thing. Part of it is sitting down with the vessels log and erasing every one of her log entries.. a poem, prayer and an incantation or two are also obligatory.

I was going to rename Little Plum to 'Big Log II' - 'Big Log' being a song by Robert Plant ( ex Led Zep ).. It was the first slow dance that Britt and I had together, Indeed the song was so special to us that inside our wedding rings we have engraved 'Big on mine and Log' on Britts.

Anyway, romance aside. Britt came down to see LP just after I bought her and we were talking about renaming her.

'You can't rename her, she is so LITTLE PLUM.. and she will sulk if you take her name away.. '

How do you argue with that ?

How does a yacht actually sulk ?

Working on the principle that both my girls understand one another, somehow... Little Plum, or LP as most of us know her,,has kept her name.

Anyway, it saved a lot of paper work, poems and incantations. This is a good thing.

We changed from 'Panik' to 'Shurig' using the Kawasaki principle.This means that deliberately courting bad luck negates the effect, so if you deliberately walk under a ladder rather than accidentally the bad luck doesn't accrue.Green was always 'unlucky' on motorbikes, so when Kawasaki started racing in green (the old H2s I seem to remember) it was frowned on, and they did have a bad first season or two - probably more to do with the frame design than luck really. After the problems were sorted out they 'steamed' through - not bad for a steam train manufacturer!If you're listening Neptune, bring it on...

Hi Gee - as you know, I'm up for the rally, and will try and get in touch with Lydney and see if the 2 or 3 fin A24s there are interested.Blue - it might be a good opportunity to give you and Di a sail from Thornbury to Portishead.Well done, Gee, for getting this started. I can tell from here that LP is very pleased with you!Rob

Thanks Rob ... I think 10 yachts is a reasonable number in order to approach Portishead marina with a view to getting some sort of concession on overnight mooring.

I am having a look at the tide tables to try and figure out a way of getting tides sorted out so that yachts coming from either direction can enjoy an ebb or flood behind them to join in.

Just to emphasise the point, this is strictly an informal gathering of the clan ( or should that be fleet ? ).. If Portishead does turn out to be the preferred venue, then I suggest crews meet up at the Royal Inn for drinks and a natter... oh yes and food if they are not dining aboard. ( I recommend the steak and ale pie !! )

I have this feeling that I am going to need to send a letter out to our local clubs too... not everyone is on Flickr !!

I have had a look at the tide table for Portishead - and I think a good weekend might be Sat 9/7/2011 - Sun 10/7/2011. High tide on Saturday is at 14:01 (11.1 m) .. Yachts coming from the Cardiff end of the Bristol Channel won't have to get going at the crack of dawn to come up on the flood, and similarly there will be plenty of light for Yachts coming down the channel on the ebb from Thornbury/Lydney etc.